ALTON — “Strangers in the night” face misdemeanor charges of public indecency/sex conduct after allegedly having relations in the Alton police station lobby early Tuesday.

Police said the man and woman are homeless, and apparently did not know each other until their alleged encounter.

The man, Travis A. Tiek, 39, frequently sleeps in the lobby of the Donald E. Sandidge Alton Law Enforcement Center, 1700 E. Broadway, according to an Alton police incident report The Telegraph obtained after filing a request under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

The woman, Tarkita T. Thomas, 29, reportedly had been riding a Madison County Transit District bus throughout Monday. The driver dropped Thomas off at the police station after the final run, said Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons of the Alton Police Department.

According to the police report, Thomas had come to the Command Center window at 8 p.m. Monday. She told police she is homeless and requested to be allowed to sleep in the main lobby, at the bus driver’s suggestion. Simmons said people may stay in the lobby to escape the elements if they are not disruptive. Police provide the people with a blanket and a microwaved, frozen meal box.

“We have a homeless problem in Alton, we’ve had two meetings with Centerstone, the Salvation Army and other groups and we plan more meetings,” he said. The efforts have resulted in finding places for a few of the homeless people to stay who had come to APD.

The report says Tiek was sleeping on the tile floor on the southwest corner of the lobby Monday night.

Police said at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, an officer in the Command Center — which has an expansive glass front facing the lobby — looked out the window. The report says the officer saw the two people engaged in sexual intercourse and told fellow police in the Command Center.

The officers came out of the Command Center via the Community Room. The sound of the heavy door prompted the couple to stop their activity and lie next to each other on the floor. Tiek looked up as police entered the lobby, then both he and Thomas pretended to be asleep, the report says.

“Tiek and Thomas initially claimed to have no knowledge of any sexual acts having just occurred between them, until they were notified that all officers were witnesses to those acts’ occurrence,” the report says. “Tiek then claimed to have been unaware of Thomas’ presence” until she initiated the activity, the report says.

Police took the duo upstairs to Alton City Jail, booked them with the misdemeanor offense and held them in lieu of bond. Simmons said Tiek and Thomas were not locked up in the same cell.

A judge later released the two people. The police report says Thomas never had been to APD before, and Simmons said he does not know why she was in Alton. Court records show she has lived in Granite City and East St. Louis.